Paella is one of the most popular and common recipes of the Spanish cuisine. There are several types of famous rice in Spain, but Valencian paella is really delicious and it is native to the Mediterranean coast. This type of paella includes rice and several meats and vegetables, but the recipe is really easy, so do not hesitate and prepare Valencian paella following these instructions:
Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 onion, finely chopped 2 tomatoes, skin and seeds removed and diced
200 g/7 oz rabbit, skinned and cleaned
300 g/10 oz chicken, skinned and cleaned
4 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
100 g/3.5 oz white lima beans
100 g/3.5 oz green beans
1 ½ tsp mild paprika
1 pinch saffron threads 4 ¼ cups chicken broth, divided
4 ¼ cups water, divided 600 g/21 oz short-grain rice
Serves 6
To prepare paella, first you should prepare all the ingredients, so finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. Then, peel and remove the seeds from the tomatoes and dice them. You can pour all the chopped ingredients into small bowls or plate to have them all ready but separately. Now cut the rabbit and chicken into small pieces and set aside too. Then, in a paella pan (or similar), heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and rabbit pieces and cook over low heat. While you are frying the rabbit and chicken, season lightly with salt and pepper. Fry gently until seared and golden brown. Once all the pieces are browned, move the meat to the sides of the pan (as the heat is lower there) and leave the center empty. Then, stir in the chopped onion and garlic and fry lightly. Pour diced tomatoes in the pan too and keep frying for other 3-5 minutes. Then, add the green and white lima beans and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Sprinkle the paprika and stir again.
After a couple of minutes, add half the water and half the chicken broth (about 2 cups each). Then, add the saffron, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally to mix all the ingredients. Now add the rice and the rest of the stock and water and cook on a high heat. Make sure that it is well covered by the stock. If necessary, you can add some more water. Now taste the stock and adjust seasoning if necessary (but note that water will evaporate, so you’d better not to salt the rice too much at this point). Once the water is boiling, reduce heat to low. Cover (preferably with a cloth or newspaper) and simmer, without stirring, for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and there is no broth left. Be careful and check the paella occasionally in case all the liquid has evaporated (if that is the case, the rice will stick to the bottom of the pan and will get burn). If the rice is not cooked enough and liquid has evaporated, you can add some more water (preferably hot). When the rice is tender, turn off the heat and let the paella stand for 3-5 minutes. Then serve hot. Your guests will enjoy this tasty Spanish dish!